Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

HHS And Texas Reach Accord For $25B Medicaid Funding For Hospitals

The funding, which runs for five years, helps cover uncompensated care provided at safety-net hospitals. Also in the news, Iowa penalizes a company that helps manage its Medicaid program, and federal officials releases information on health care challenges for Puerto Ricans.

Texas Tribune:
Texas, Feds Agree To Renew Medicaid Funds For Safety Net Hospitals
With a Republican in the White House, top Texas leaders have reached an agreement with the federal government to keep Medicaid money flowing into Texas to help hospitals treat uninsured patients. The agreement with the Trump administration extends the life of the so-called "1115 waiver" — a program that safety-net hospitals have relied on for several years to serve poor, uninsured Texans — for another five years, to the tune of $25 billion. (Ramshaw, 12/21)

Houston Chronicle:
State Reaches $25 Billion Deal With Feds To Cover Uninsured Patients
An agreement has been reached with federal officials to provide more than $25 billion over the next five years to fund uninsured patients at Texas hospitals, state officials announced Thursday. Gov. Greg Abbott said the deal that averts a potential health care crisis in the state will extend the life of the so-called "1115 waiver" — a program that safety-net hospitals have relied on for years to serve poor Texans — for another five years. (Ward, 12/21)

Dallas Morning News:
Parkland, Other Texas Hospitals Applaud Deal By Federal, State Officials To Extend Medicaid Cash Infusion
The federal government has extended for nearly five years a vital source of extra Medicaid money for safety-net hospitals such as Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital. But the crucial flow of much-needed cash to county-owned hospitals in Texas' biggest cities as well as to nonprofits, such as Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, will shrink slightly as a result of a tighter definition of charity care, experts said Thursday. And the special Medicaid waiver's other component, a "quality improvement program" designed to change delivery of health care to the indigent, will also be reduced and will only last four more years. (Garrett, 12/21)

Des Moines Register:
Iowa Medicaid Providers Hit With $1.5 Million In Penalties
Iowa has assessed $1.5 million in penalties against the three companies that managed the state's Medicaid program for failing to meet performance standards, newly released records show. More than $1 million of those penalties were assessed against AmeriHealth Caritas, which recently terminated its contract with the state because it said it was losing too much money. (Clayworth, 12/21)